Great Scientists and Their Discoveries

Nine remarkable men produced inventions that changed the world. The printing press, the telephone, powered flight, recording and others have made the modern world what it is. But who were the men who had these ideas and made reality of them? As David Angus shows, they were very different - quiet, boisterous, confident, withdrawn - but all had a moment of vision allied to single-minded determination to battle through numerous prototypes and produced something that really worked. This is a fascinating account for younger listeners.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Tony Robinson stars in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's renowned Christmas story, which inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet
The Nutcracker. It is Christmas Eve, and young Mary and Fred are opening presents from their godfather, Drosselmeier the toymaker. Mary's favourite gift is a nutcracker soldier, and she is disappointed when his jaw breaks on a particularly hard nut.

Audible Editor Reviews

An accessible introduction to the ballet, "Swan Lake" is one of the stories in the 2002 Audie Award-winning Ballet Stories collection. Incorporating stretches of Tchaikovsky's ethereal music, this audiobook tells the story of Prince Siegfried, who discovers an enchanted lake and falls in love with a beautiful young woman who has been transformed by an evil sorcerer into a swan. Their love is challenged by the sorcerer and his daughter, who try to break the lovers apart, and listeners will be moved by the tragic ending. Narrator Jenny Agutter's elegant performance maintains a dreamy mood throughout the story, enhancing its fairy tale sensibility.

Publisher's Summary

This is a story from the Ballet Stories collection.

The magic of ballet is evoked in these enchanting stories presented with many musical excerpts from the works themselves. Jenny Agutter, who before turning to acting was a dancer, presents the stories of two French ballets - Giselle and Coppelia - and the three great ballets by Tchaikovsky, in engaging style.

These are tales of princes and princesses, of good fairies and bad witches, and, in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the brave soldier and Clara - but does it happen, or is it a dream?

And there is the music - the lovely melody from Swan Lake, The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the waltzes and richly atmospheric passages painting, in sound, castles, forests, mists and lakes.